


A Lion in Every Heart

by Sapphylicious



Category: Servamp (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Blood Drinking, Canon Divergence, M/M, Vampires, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-18 18:41:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13106220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sapphylicious/pseuds/Sapphylicious
Summary: Kuro may have stopped running away, but reaching out to grasp happiness takes more courage than he could have imagined.





	A Lion in Every Heart

**Author's Note:**

> This diverges from canon after chapter 67 and assumes the current arc wraps up with no earth-shattering revelations or deaths that would make me cry.

"Names are the sweetest and most important sound in any language."  
– Dale Carnegie

 

The chiming of the school bell roused Kuro out of sleep, as had become habit, and he grumbled inchoately in the muffled darkness of Mahiru's schoolbag. Outside, the classroom filled with noise. Students chattered, their chairs scraping the floor, and someone who was far too enthusiastic to leave threw the door open with a loud clatter. Kuro's ears twitched in annoyance. He swayed in the bag as it was lifted, the zipper parting at the top to let in bright fluorescent light, and his pitiful meow of protest went ignored, as usual.

Squinting, he caught a glimpse of Mahiru's expectant face. The bag tilted and Kuro heaved a sigh, but obligingly shifted over to make room for various notes and textbooks. It was too bad Mahiru wasn't the delinquent type; naps on the roof would have been much more pleasant than listening to the drone of a teacher.

"Oi, Mahiru. Are you free this afternoon?"

"Why?" Wariness crept into Mahiru's expression before the bag zipped shut and cozy darkness enveloped Kuro once again.

"Well, you know…" Ryuusei hedged and Mahiru groaned.

"Again? Aren't you broke already?" Despite his agitation, he was careful not to jostle Kuro too much when hefting the bag onto his back. Kuro squirmed around to get more comfortable, shoving a pencil case under his head as a pillow.

"I, uh, agreed to do my sister's chores for some cash, so…"

"Aw, Ryuu-chan is trying so hard. Let's support him, ne?"

" _I'm_ going to go broke at this rate. But fine." Mahiru huffed, squaring his shoulders. The faint warmth of his back emanated through the material of the bag where Kuro pressed against it. "On one condition: this time you have to confess! Thinking simply, it's best to be honest with your feelings. Plus, if this gets any worse, you might become a stalker and I can't let that happen."

"I'm not a—! Wait. _Confess?_ No, I—I need to prepare for that kind of thing!"

Koyuki hummed. "Then, should we pick up some flowers…?"

"No way in hell, I'm not doing something that cheesy! I meant mental preparation!"

"You have until we reach the café to prepare yourself," Mahiru said with menacing good cheer.

 _Scary_ , Kuro thought, but that was typical Mahiru; bravely facing forward when others would cower and hide. So troublesome. _Ah, man, I wanna go home and play video games…_

Well, at least the café had delicious food. Uncurling himself, Kuro nosed apart the small gap where the bag's zipper wasn't fully closed and popped his head through the opening. He blinked at the sudden sunlight. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the air was crisp with oncoming autumn. It was a proper seasonal change this time, the atmosphere no longer choked with jinn—and that was a memory that made Kuro's whole body ache.

As if surviving the horrible mess with C3 wasn't achievement enough, and because a _certain someone_ couldn't resist volunteering to help, their ragtag group then had to exorcise the accumulated jinn. All hundreds of thousands of them.

The task would have been impossible without Iduna's inventions. She was brilliant, and Kuro could admit he was impressed, but that didn't mean he was thankful. On the contrary, because she'd made the equipment so vampires could use it, no one escaped being put to work, cleaning up the mess of lingering spirits for hours and days and weeks, all across the city. There should be labor laws against that sort of thing.

Recalling the work exhausted him all over again, but instead of sinking back into the bag's crowded depths Kuro heaved himself up to drape languidly over Mahiru's shoulder. The breeze sliding through his fur was cool, almost chilly, but the side of Mahiru's neck was warm. His pulse beat there, steady and strong. Appetizing in a way Kuro didn't usually think about.

It wasn't the type of hunger that came from his belly, and it wasn't the kind of thirst that drove the subclass to prey on humans. Taste and quality of blood, Kuro didn't get any of that, no matter how Lily and Hugh talked about it like they were connoisseurs. Blood was all the same to Kuro, an unwelcome flavor on his tongue, but not a disgusting one. His body didn't reject it. The monster inside craved it, rather, even if the rest of Kuro didn't. He never did, before.

The power inside an Eve's blood was a benefit, but it wasn't as if the seven ( _eight_ ) of them needed power for themselves. They didn't have goals or aspirations that required such power. Contracts were made to act on their Eve's behalf, lending them the ability to achieve what they wanted… and in return, the Servamp fed on their resolve, the raw force behind their dreams. It gave them purpose, if only temporarily. Even monsters needed a purpose.

Kuro had avoided having any kind of purpose for so long, preferring the emptiness of an existence that had no power or will to cause harm, but that changed with a bell and an epithet he never wanted, an Eve who could never mind his own business, and an intensely stark, intimately forthright lecture about owning his mistakes.

It was originally a name that meant nothing to him. A pet's name given in ignorance, followed by a collar around his neck, also a mistake, plain bad luck all around, but a small enough burden compared to the weight of old sins. It was nothing to care overmuch about. Contracts lasted only as long as a human lifetime.

(…Kuro shied away from that line of thought.)

This simple name of his was heavier now, laden with meaning, and in the crumbling depths of C3's headquarters, Kuro had experienced for a single, stricken moment what the absence of his name felt like. The air had become a void that blanked out his own pounding heartbeat, everything diminished as he waited, straining, to hear that most important sound.

His name was a greater burden than he'd realized—maybe the greatest burden of all.

"Kuro? Hey, quit that! You'll ruin my uniform!"

Glancing down, he paused what he was subconsciously doing and retracted his claws from where they'd hooked in the school blazer. Mahiru frowned at the snagged threads with an assessing eye, but didn't reach for his sewing kit. When he shifted his focus, Kuro feigned indifference.

Instead of a rebuke, though, Mahiru raised a hesitant hand to half-pet, half-pat the top of Kuro's head. That was far more disconcerting than a complaint and even worse than a concerned question. Based on their history of interaction, Kuro was more vampire than cat to him, and more NEET than vampire. Petting wasn't supposed to happen. It didn't used to happen. He'd thought it was safe to assume that one time was an isolated event; after dragging themselves out of the ruin that was C3, too exhausted to bother changing his shape, and too soothed by the sound of the ordinary syllables that formed his name, at that time Kuro hadn't minded the light, almost accidental flutter of fingers through his hair.

It was too much now, suddenly. The nearness of Mahiru's pulse like a promise and the step into unfamiliar, tactile territory was too much for Kuro to handle. He retreated into the confines of the bag, annoyingly aware of the sharpness of his teeth and the emptiness he'd cultivated deep inside through habitual neglect, the desert of his inner landscape forever changed by Mahiru's tracks.

 

* * *

 

It was a leisurely walk to their destination, stopping at various places for errands (Mahiru needed laundry detergent and a new vacuum filter—because cleaning the city of jinn wasn't enough for him) and for fun (Koyuki made a valiant effort to actually get flowers). By the time they arrived at the café, Kuro could rally himself to face the world again. Life was full of hardship, especially if that life was immortal, but it wasn't without its delights. A hot fudge brownie sundae could do wonders for one's outlook.

He opened wide and sated his teeth on a bite of juicy maraschino cherry, expertly wriggling his cat toes around the stem to yank it free of the fruit. Hands were overrated.

"Kuro sure is smart," Koyuki mused, not for the first time. He dabbed whipped cream onto his fingertip and offered it to Kuro, who turned up his nose because yeah, no. Just because he was an adorable cat didn't mean he was an uncivilized animal. Koyuki merely laughed.

"I don't see how he can eat stuff like that and not get sick," Mahiru complained, chin propped in his hand. A half-finished glass of orange juice sat in front of him, the only thing he'd ordered for himself.

Vampires didn't get sick like humans did. Kuro was sure he'd mentioned that before. Or maybe he hadn't, it was a bother to explain. He busied himself with a mouthful of warm, gooey brownie.

Across the table, Ryuusei's ice clinked in his untouched drink and he hunched in his seat. Every now and then his leg would start an anxious jiggle that made the table vibrate until Mahiru told him to stop. Ryuusei's face was pale, but moments ago it had been bright red as he stammered in front of the waitress. He hadn't managed a confession, previously stating that the rest of them were crazy if they thought he was going to do that in public, but after some stilted conversation she'd mentioned when her break time was. Whether that was mere politeness or genuine interest remained to be seen. Looking at Ryuusei, you'd think he was facing his execution instead of meeting a girl he liked, and Kuro had seen a few executions in his time. Hopefully the end result would be significantly less grisly than those.

Youth these days seemed so exhausting. Kuro couldn't really remember what it was like before… well _before_. It was too bothersome to think about. He turned his attention to lapping up fudge sauce swirled with melting vanilla ice cream.

The waitress at the center of this dramatic teenage crisis passed them to serve another group. Kuro supposed she was considered cute judging by the way the boys reacted. She was slim, petite, and even without getting close he could tell her heart beat strong. That and her scent put him on edge. It wasn't something as superficial as perfume (though that was pungent on its own with prominent notes of anise), but inherent under her skin she smelled like the type he avoided, someone with potent willpower running through their veins.

Mahiru smelled like that, too, and Kuro could barely deal.

He contemplated the rest of his sundae, appetite dwindling. Ice cream oozed around the crumbled brownie and a distant memory of World End yelled at him for wasting food. That was easily ignored, but then a more immediate memory of Mahiru surfaced, nagging something similar. It wasn't often that frugal Mahiru spent money on dessert. Resigned, Kuro gave the melting mess a few more halfhearted licks.

When he instinctively froze, at first he attributed it to brain freeze. Then the icy fingers of caution arched his back and bristled his fur. Kuro snapped his jaws shut, head turning sharply to search the crowd. The waitress—no, it wasn't her, she was occupied with customers. The café had gotten busy. Young people, mostly, in pairs and groups. Couples on dates, students like Mahiru and his friends, some office ladies…

The guys in the corner didn't immediately look out of place, young enough to be university students, casually drinking their coffee. One of them was staring at Kuro. Or at least in his direction.

He glanced at the window behind him where the day's light was beginning to fade, at his shadowy, twisting reflection that seemed to come alive on the glass. Even he thought that was creepy. Humans didn't notice it unless they were aware of vampires already. Perception of the supernatural was particular that way.

"Kuro? Is something wrong?"

There was that touch again, tentative and light on the top of Kuro's head. Was he more of a pet to Mahiru now? Why on earth would that be? It was too annoying to deal with, though, so he gave his head a shake and checked the corner table again, but the men were gone.

False alarm? If only he could be so lucky…

"Come on then." Mahiru scooped him up, the handling unceremonious and reassuringly impersonal. "Ryuusei is going to confess to Aihara-san."

"You're butting in too much, and I'd rather go home." Kuro sighed, his usual token effort met with the usual refusal.

"Being supportive isn't interfering! And besides," Mahiru said, voice lowering, "after urging him on so confidently, I need to see how this turns out."

"Busybody."

"Hush, you!"

 

* * *

 

Loitering outside, Mahiru and Koyuki peeked into the small side alley that allowed Ryuusei the privacy he wanted so badly, albeit at the cost of a romantic atmosphere. Not that Kuro was any judge, since whatever notions he might have about modern romance came from shoujo manga. He also considered himself well-read when it came to the classics, but he was pretty sure what used to be all the rage in the 19th century was now outdated.

He yawned widely, tucked into Mahiru's schoolbag again with his head and forepaws sticking out. The street was beginning to swell with the evening crowd, students joined by salarymen who gravitated towards the warm glow of izakaya and bright lights of karaoke. Tokyo had become congested with humanity over the decades, but for all that he was a shut-in, Kuro didn't mind crowded places. The anonymity meant he was left alone. And he liked Japan in particular, despite the bad memories. Cute cats were always welcome here and being a shut-in was a legitimate lifestyle (not that Mahiru would agree, but there was a name for it, and names always meant something).

Kuro blinked, slow and sleepy. Come to think of it, Tsubaki must have lived in Japan for quite a while. Most of his life, probably. He'd obviously been created here and was distinctly Japanese in a way that set him apart from his siblings—the rest of them were so removed from their origins they could belong everywhere and nowhere at once. Was it because of Tsubaki's relative youth? Was everything happening in Japan because he was born here, or because their creator had died here?

It was annoying, but Kuro would simply have to ask the next time they met.

"Oh! He's coming back… oh, no… is he crying?"

Kuro's ears swiveled to the sound of Mahiru's amusement as he said, "I think those are tears of happiness."

"Ryuu-chan, congratulations!"

"You bastards, don't look!" Ryuusei threw an arm over his face and rubbed the evidence away with his sleeve. "Ah, geez… Mahiru, you were right. Being honest is the best after all."

"…Yeah," Mahiru said, oddly distracted. "It is, isn't it?"

Kuro cocked his head. As much as he didn't want to get involved, it would bother him more if he did nothing and regretted it later. "Oi," he started to say next to Mahiru's ear when a sudden shadow loomed over him.

A big hand in his scruff lifted him up, pulling his collar tight around his neck. His feet kicked uselessly in the air and he yowled.

Mahiru whirled, surprised and then indignant. "Who—?! What are you doing with Kuro, give him back!"

Kuro was roughly yanked further from Mahiru's reach. He couldn't see his captor's face but the clothes were familiar—he _knew_ the person he'd seen in the café was bad news—and he resigned himself to the situation. It would be best for everyone if Mahiru could take care of it in a normal way so Kuro didn't have to do anything.

"This isn't an ordinary cat, kid. It's a monster that needs to be destroyed."

Koyuki looked intimidated but Ryuusei just scoffed. "Look, mister, put the cat down and find someone else to play games with."

"I know what Kuro is," Mahiru said, and Kuro shook his head anxiously while crossing his forelegs in an X. _Don't admit that! Play dumb for once and call the police like a normal human!_ The Eve-Servamp bond allowed for many things, but unfortunately, in this case, telepathy was not included in the package. A small wrinkle formed in Mahiru's brow as he noticed Kuro's frantic behavior, but he didn't understand and kept digging his grave deeper. "As his master of sorts, I can assure you that he's harmless."

Ryuusei looked back and forth between Mahiru and the stranger. "Uh, he's a cat, not a pit bull."

The grip on Kuro squeezed painfully and he grimaced. Just as he thought he might have to act after all, the arm holding him swung in a brutal arc. Horrified expressions flashed by, then Kuro hit the wall with a shock of impact and the crumpling sensation of his soft body losing the fight against a hard surface. He registered the tug on the bond as Mahiru summoned his lead, and then blacked out.

Briefly, he swam in darkness, numb to everything. Then a distorted voice admonished, " _Now's not the time to be sleeping, you lazy cat!_ "

Kuro came to in a haze of pain. The first thing he did was grope for the bond, faint though it was without a tribute of blood, and he found relief in the threadlike pull on his power. Usually it was an annoyance, an unwanted attachment… though, perhaps not so unwanted anymore. Getting his bearings, he wasn't on the ground as he expected, but nestled in the crook of Mahiru's arm. Spear in hand, Mahiru stood between the attacker and his friends, trying to get them to run away while they shouted back at him in confused panic.

This was all one giant headache. "Ugh, noisy…"

"Kuro! Here—"

He sank his teeth into Mahiru's arm before the boy even finished offering. No more time to hesitate. Strength flowed into Kuro, the throb of his mangled body immediately lessening as everything knit and fused back together, and he leapt from Mahiru's hold to land on two feet. The chain connecting them whipped through the narrow space of the alley. Kuro licked his mouth, savoring, rejecting. As always, the energy of Mahiru's blood coiled inside him, urging him to act. It was a rushing river that came uncomfortably close to Kuro's own stagnant waters.

Something moved and Kuro pounced, only half-conscious of the reflex. Instinct and a vague sense of direction through the bond guided him. If he wanted, he could mentally retreat and let that be enough to function on autopilot, but things never went well when that happened. So he maintained the presence of mind to capture and not maim, which was easy enough against an unaided human opponent.

The man had tried to run when he saw Kuro recover, but letting him get away would only cause more problems later. A swath of ragged coattail pinned him to the ground and muffled his shouts. Kuro slouched in the shadow of the alley wall, glancing towards the street to make sure no one had noticed anything was amiss, and then turned his attention to the would-be hunter. Stupid of him to act alone, but dedicated vampire hunters were rare these days. It used to be a more concentrated effort before C3 established itself to regulate human and nonhuman affairs, claiming lofty goals of coexistence with iron-handed methods. That still left a sour taste in Kuro's mouth. Now that C3 was in shambles, all sorts of fringe groups were likely to take advantage… god, what a mess.

"It's no use trying to convince him," Kuro said when Mahiru approached, but the boy had a stubborn look on his face that made Kuro release a long-suffering sigh.

His exhale was interrupted by a sharp, swift pain stabbing through his ribs. Oh. So the hunter wasn't working alone after all. Kuro coughed wetly, hand wrapping around the hilt of a knife sticking out of his chest and pulling it free. Blood splattered on the pavement. It soaked into his clothes, but since they and the shadows clinging to them were as much a part of Kuro as his own flesh and blood, they would mend along with his wound.

Huh. The blade of the knife was a supernatural black, and the seeping wound wasn't closing up right away. _Shit._ "Mahiru—!"

Kuro heard it this time, the sound of an object cutting through the air. Mahiru was already turning in place, alerted to the threat, weapon raised—good, they were ready, together they—

The body standing in front of Kuro jerked with a _thunk_ and a wet spray of fresh blood.

For an uncomprehending moment Kuro just stared.

Then someone screamed.

"Mahiru!"

"Shit, are you okay?! I'm gonna call—" Ryuusei cut off with a yelp when Kuro materialized in front of them, arms awkwardly outstretched as if to hold but unable to go through with the touch, the gesture too foreign to him, and Mahiru's face too screwed up in pain for Kuro to risk making it worse. Whenever he acted, he always made things worse.

Mahiru clutched his shoulder where the knife was embedded. His arm dangled, spear slipping from his fingers and dissolving before it hit the ground. It reappeared on his skin as an inky bracelet curving around a blood-stained wrist.

"I'm fine," he ground out between clenched teeth. "Take this out, I'll be fine. It's just like Lawless said, right? I can handle this much."

"Mahiru…" Stricken and lost, neither of his two friends moved.

"Kuro," Mahiru said, asking and intent. Kuro obeyed automatically with careful, steady hands, blood flowing around the blade as it withdrew.

Koyuki made a tiny noise of protest. "W-wait! Removing it is bad, I think? Because the bleeding… we should… an ambulance…"

"It's fine," Kuro said, echoing Mahiru. The shock was finally fading, and guilt would have to wait. Kuro pulled on Mahiru's reassuring presence through the bond. It was a thin tether, but stronger than it seemed, and for once Kuro had no need of barriers or distance. For once, he wanted more. The extracted knife fell to the ground, forgotten. Kuro bent his head to look at the wound under the ruined fabric. "It's fine," he repeated, the resolution surging inside him, stirring up what had long been dormant. His breath shook when he exhaled. Was he trembling? He didn't know what to do with this need, except— "Mahiru is my Eve," he said, less of an explanation and more of a declaration. Giving in, he lowered his mouth to the broken flesh and licked across it.

Heat flashed at the base of his neck, as if the bond was forging itself anew, and Mahiru's blood tasted more potent than ever on Kuro's tongue. It drew him in. Getting swept away would be a perilously simple matter. The hitch of Mahiru's breath by Kuro's ear gave him pause, and then the light touch of fingers in his hair startled a flutter in his stomach that had him pulling back. Physically, at least. The bond was a molten-hot thing between them, fearsomely powerful, a source of strength for them both—and the more connected Mahiru was to Kuro, the faster he would heal.

 _Right_ , Kuro thought, fangs drawn out. _That was why I did that_. In the back of his mind he heard a taunting snigger.

He wiped his mouth and then felt at the back of his neck. No chain, though the bond was active. If Mahiru wanted he could probably yank and the links would materialize, but for now Kuro was off-leash, and motivated. He took a few more steps away from where Koyuki and Ryuusei began to huddle protectively around Mahiru. Protecting him from Kuro. Well, that was the normal response to a vampire, so Kuro didn't take it personally.

No sign of either of the two hunters. Kuro scooped up the fallen knife and regarded its pitch-black blade, flicking a nail against the false metal. There was something artificial and static about the weapons C3 made. They changed forms, but it was a predetermined process. Not like a true lead that was drawn raw from a Servamp's ancient well of power and then shaped by the ideas and desires of an Eve. Still, the weapons C3 made were frightfully effective, and if this wasn't one of theirs it was close enough to have been created the same way.

"Mahiru," Kuro said, dropping the knife into the claw-like clutch of a coattail so he could stretch and pop his joints. This was going to be exhausting. Necessary, but exhausting. "Give Kisama-chan a call, have him pick you up. I'll meet you at his place."

"Huh? Kuro, what are you planning?"

The fact that Kuro had gotten to a point in his eternally damned, inherently slothful life where he made _plans_ was deeply unsettling. "Don't worry," he said, sliding a glance at the three human boys. Koyuki flinched and Ryuusei watched cagily. It didn't help when Kuro added, "I won't kill them. That would be far too annoying."

 

* * *

 

He was relatively certain the hunters weren't mages. They'd be easier to locate if they were because magic had a signature ozone stink that Kuro associated with C3, though to be fair not every mage family was connected to the organization. Magic came in different forms, and not all of them were as loathsome as C3's method of using people up until they broke.

The knife was Kuro's only clue. It smelled magical enough, and hopefully its owner was carrying more. Kuro would worry about non-mages using magical weapons later, if ever. He could only be responsible for so much.

On a whim, he tested whether the knife could be absorbed into his own shadows, but it didn't take. Its shape seemed locked, and it wasn't part of him. That was probably for the best, he had more than enough darkness already.

As Kuro surveyed the town from the rooftops, he could distantly sense Mahiru getting further and further away. They'd exceed the distance limit soon, but Kuro had a handful of hours before the effects kicked in, and Mahiru would be safe at the Alicein's house. Lily still wasn't in any condition to fight, but those kids of his weren't exactly helpless.

Kuro couldn't tell if it was the bond, or simply knowing Mahiru's personality, but he got the feeling Mahiru was put out about being separated. Too bad for him, he didn't get to be the hot-blooded shounen hero all the time. And he didn't have to worry either; Kuro could handle a pair of human hunters on his own.

Lawless' needling accusation rose from Kuro's memory: _"All Nii-san has to do is decide."_

Yeah, fine, so there were some things Kuro would fight for, reasons he would perch on the ledge of a cold rooftop with his nose to the air like a trained hunting dog. There was no turmoil over the decision, no resentment dragging him down as he scanned the nighttime crowd. No heavy stone of guilt lodged in his gut. Putting it simply, as Mahiru liked, Kuro was just pissed.

There; a telltale, oxidizing zing on the breeze, and no rainclouds in sight. It came from two young men mingling in the flow of people. They used the press of humanity as a shield, watchful, but confident the public street was safe. As if secrecy was of utmost importance to a vampire. It might have been, once, but C3 no longer had the means to enforce their idea of coexistence, and Tsubaki had galvanized his brethren into making bold attacks in the open. The status quo was shifting. The world was changing. But that wasn't any of Kuro's concern at the moment.

Under normal circumstances, he preferred being unobtrusive. Attention was troublesome. Right now, though, he didn't have the time or inclination to stalk his prey to a more isolated location. In a city as busy as Tokyo, they could stay out all night and he'd be out of luck when the sun came up.

Stepping off the ledge, Kuro dropped into a momentarily deserted side street, cat-quiet with his coattails fluttering around him. He patted his chest and the place he'd been stabbed still ached a bit, but the wound was closed and the blood was gone. Kuro pulled his hood over his head, slipped his hands in his pockets, and wove his way through the crowd.

The bright lights of street lamps, fluorescent store signs, and car headlights diffused the surrounding shadows into dim, washed-out shades of gray. Only Kuro's shadow remained the untouched deep dark of ancient night, stretching long and jagged behind him. No one else noticed. Not even the hunters, until he was practically on top of them.

A kick to the back of a knee, a push to help gravity along, and the pesky one with the knives hit the sidewalk with a skull-rattling crack. Kuro bent down to get a good, tight grip around a wrist, and grabbed the ankle of the other guy, yanking him off his feet, too. It was pathetic all around; pathetic of them for going after a vampire when they were so obviously outclassed, and pathetic of Kuro for being unable to protect Mahiru against such an incompetent threat.

The space around Kuro had widened considerably. Phones were out, at least a few of those making calls to the cops, the rest fearlessly recording—though the onlookers stumbled out of the way quick enough when Kuro dragged the two hunters off the main street. One or both of them had left blood on the pavement. Luckily, the smell did nothing for Kuro's appetite. The yelling, though, that was annoying—and out came another black blade to slash through Kuro's sleeve. It wasn't a deep cut, so he ignored the sting and slick drip of blood down his arm.

Before an enterprising bystander could follow him into the alley, Kuro leapt off the ground. He cleared the rooftops with ease, and when the rush of air slowed at the apex of his jump there was nothing but the night sky around him, which had the benefit of convincing his captives to cease their struggles lest he drop them to their deaths. When they started to fall back to earth, one of them whimpered. Kuro pretended that wasn't satisfying.

Some blocks away, Kuro gave his tired arms a break. He crouched and balanced on the narrow top of a glowing billboard, dumping the hunters onto the scaffolding where they could do little except cling to the perilous structure.

"Noisy," he complained when they assailed him with the usual curses. Hunter vocabulary hadn't changed much over the centuries. Neither had their methods. Licking the blood running down his hand, Kuro flicked his coattails in disdain. "If you care so much about saving humanity, maybe you shouldn't kill your fellow humans. Just a thought." His eyes narrowed, fingers twitching, and sparks flew when long, black claws shot through the electrical sign, lights stuttering out.

The wind swept away half of what the hunters said. It was nothing worth listening to, anyway.

_"Say, Kuro…"_

The words seeped through with a sense of distance, traveling through the dark, empty corridors of his mind. "Shut up," he murmured, uselessly. This was one voice that couldn't be tuned out.

 _"Hm~ hm~"_ A light tap-tap of tiny feet wandered closer and closer, seeking his innermost thoughts and reflecting them back in a sing-song taunt. _"It sure was scary, seeing Mahiru get hurt. You're so slow. You're feeling guilty. Ah, but that's that and this is this. Hunters never learn, always hurting your people. You said you wouldn't kill them this time, but the truth is, the thought doesn't bother you at all!"_

More of the billboard crunched under Kuro's clawed grip. The hunters stared, bravado gone, and the fear paling their faces only proved what Kuro already knew about himself.

He closed his eyes and breathed out, letting the exhaustion of the past few hours envelop him like a heavy, smothering blanket. The embers of his anger dimmed and died in the suffocating dark. Lethargy was his best safeguard.

 _Ah, so tired…_ And the Alicein house was so far. He couldn't sense Mahiru anymore, the realization a sudden shock that made him wobble slightly before righting himself. It was because of the distance limit, that was all. He'd know if it was something else. He would.

Crossing town with captives in tow was going to be such a nuisance. For a moment, he entertained the idea of getting a cab and foisting the fare on someone else, but vampire strength and speed were actually faster. He'd just have to bear the burden.

How nice it would be, though, if he could drop everything. If he could drop it all and quit Japan, find a more peaceful country, a quiet, remote place to hole up in, where no one would bother him. Where he didn't have to worry and be afraid of things beyond his control, or worse, his own failures. It would be better for everyone if Kuro only had to be responsible for himself in the loosest sense of the word.

(In the back of his mind, something hummed cheerfully, and even that was a censure—though it was comforting in a twisted, familiar way. It didn't let him forget.)

Idle thoughts of isolated mountain huts were just thoughts, though. Too insubstantial to even be called a dream. Besides, his siblings were here, all seven of them for some foreboding reason, and the youngest problem child needed dealing with.

And there was Mahiru, too. Kuro had to be where he was, the distance limit required it, an obligation in the form of a bell around his neck and a sense of unease when they were separated. Being together lately generated a different sort of unease, and Kuro hadn't decided which was worse. The taste of Mahiru's blood lingered in his mouth.

 

* * *

 

The grandiose view of the Alicein mansion was a welcome sight. One final push and Kuro leapt the wall, landing gratefully on the other side, eager to rid himself of his passengers. They were flailing in earnest now that he'd stopped. He'd told them they weren't going to be killed—hadn't he? He might not have bothered. Anyway, they were someone else's problem now.

A tall, slender figure waited by the entrance, smoke curling from a cigarette dangling from slim fingers. "Well, well," said Lily, greeting Kuro with a pleasant smile. "Look what the cat dragged in."

Kuro snorted and slunk inside. As soon as Lily closed the door behind them, a flock of maids appeared armed with syringes and rope. They went about sedating and restraining the hunters with an efficiency that was only half as alarming as their overwhelmingly good cheer, even remembering to offer Kuro a drink, as if guests dropped by with kidnapped gifts all the time.

"It's a pity, but my powers haven't returned yet," Lily said. "For time being we can keep them here under guard, although the idea doesn't thrill me."

"Doesn't the Alicein family know any shady lawyers? I thought we could stick them in a jail cell for a while."

"For vampire hunting?"

"No, for—" Kuro swallowed the angry-hot emotion that threatened to flare up again. There was no use getting upset, he'd already gone through the trouble of bringing the hunters here alive. "…For animal abuse," he finished lamely.

Lily pretended to believe him and led the way through an unobtrusive side door. "It's worth a try. And who knows, maybe by then I'll be able to handle the matter."

"…You look better than the last time I saw you." Granted, that wasn't a high bar to clear, and Kuro had deep misgivings about the mad doctor's intentions. But his work was effective, Kuro could attest to that, and it was encouraging to see Lily up and about.

"Yes," Lily agreed, serene—or maybe resolute. "So it was worth it. I'm only sorry that I can't do much at the moment."

A maid glided up to serve Kuro the cola he requested in a chilled glass bottle. How fancy. "Eh," he said, prying the cap off. "It's enough to stash them here for now."

While he was taking a sip, Lily casually suggested, " _You_ could try altering their memories."

Kuro choked, coughed for a good thirty seconds, and shot his brother a dirty look while wiping his mouth. " _What?_ "

"You could, couldn't you?"

"I can't do it like you can." He grimaced after admitting it. Might have been better to go with flat-out denial, but it wasn't an unusual ability; most vampires could alter human memories to some extent. It helped avoid trouble. Kuro suspected C3 had developed their own method to achieve the same result. He'd rather ask his sister or her new Eve for help than do it himself.

…Although, the more time the memories had to set in, the harder they were to erase. That didn't matter to someone as talented as Lily, or that Sakuya kid, but for everyone else there was a time limit. A few hours, maybe. Kuro frowned at his cola, the glass bottle reflecting a dim impression of feline features. Hadn't he done enough for one night? This cat needed a break. "Even if I did, they'd have a gap in their memories. Hunters know what that means."

"But they wouldn't remember your faces."

Kuro stopped short, caught in the steel trap of that logic. Mahiru had been wearing his school uniform. They'd been observed in the café. If the hunters had listened in, they would know the boys' names. One didn't need supernatural abilities to find out more.

Growling, Kuro hunched his shoulders in defeat. "You bastard, you led me into this."

Lily gave him a winning smile. "And yet, you aren't saying no."

As if he could. The little bell resting against his chest gleamed and jingled as Kuro trudged after Lily and their escort of maids, captives at their mercy.

 

* * *

 

Afterwards, Kuro wanted nothing more but to sleep for days, undisturbed, isolated from any other living person. He could barely handle his own memories; rummaging around in someone else's was so repellent he actually felt nauseous about it.

Laboring through every step, his footfalls plodded along the black and white tile of the hallway. The contrasting pattern on the floor made him dizzy and in that moment he envied Misono for his chair. If Kuro could make a bed appear whenever he wanted, life would be so much more bearable.

There was a double set of doors ahead, but Kuro couldn't tell if he'd come the right way. Navigating the ostentatious Alicein mansion was such a pain. He sensed more than one presence in the room beyond, so that was something.

"Mahiru—" His hand came to rest on an ornately curved handle and then paused, identifying the agitated voice within.

"—since before summer break! I can't believe he never said anything that whole time! Looking back, there were a lot of suspicious things, weren't there?"

Koyuki's response was quieter, soft and vulnerable but shocked around the edges. "Yeah… but I never thought…"

"And Sakuya, too! We were the only ones who didn't know anything!" A tight-fisted thud punctuated Ryuusei's rant. Heavy silence descended for a beat, and then in a harsh undertone he said, "…I still can't remember that guy's face. He was our friend, too! So why…"

 _Ah,_ Kuro thought, closing his eyes. His hand fell away from the door and he stepped back. This was beginning to feel familiar, a sympathetic ache building in his chest. _I have to find Mahiru._

Before he could leave, both doors flew open. He felt the wind of their passing and narrowly avoided having his face smashed. Ryuusei aborted his march forward with a jerk and a stumble, wearing a stunned, chalk-white expression that soon boiled red. "What do you want?!"

Behind him, Koyuki had frozen in place with wide eyes. "Ah… Ryuu-chan…"

Well, this was awkward, but it was better than being attacked with cleaning appliances. Mahiru was the strange one for adapting so fast; this was how normal humans reacted to vampires. The two boys would get used to it eventually… or not, but there was nothing Kuro could do about that. They could hate him or fear him or whatever. Several-hundred-year-old monsters didn't worry about that kind of thing.

He just wondered how Mahiru was taking this. They must have talked, right? Mahiru was big on talking, it was such a nuisance to Kuro, but Mahiru would have told them everything now that they'd gotten a peek behind the curtain. Even though he'd wanted to keep his friends safe by not involving them. Even though he'd been through this before.

So annoying. This was why Kuro preferred being alone.

_"It's far too late for that!"_

The edges of his vision seemed to darken. In front of Kuro, Ryuusei snarled at him, but Kuro wasn't paying attention. He got the impression of being blamed. He could have said Mahiru was the one who stuck his nose where it wasn't wanted, that they should know what he was like, but it was too bothersome to argue.

 _"After all, this wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for you!"_ Something small and plush landed on Kuro's slumped shoulder. The sin of sloth barely weighed anything, but there was no removing it so Kuro didn't try. _"Kuro, Sleepy Ash, Truth of Sloth… there's no changing the past. What's done is done. But are you okay with leaving things like this?"_

"Where's Mahiru?" Kuro asked.

"How should I know?!" Ryuusei snapped, folding his arms defensively. "It's not like he tells us anything!"

"Ryuu-chan, I'm sure he had his reasons…"

"But still! He's always been like this, are we that unreliable? Aren't we supposed to be friends?"

 _"Say, Kuro."_ The sin of sloth leaned forward, its smile pulling at the stitches in its mouth. _"Isn't this like reopening a scar for Mahiru? Will he be okay? He's gotten stronger, but he's not invincible, you know. A rift between friends can be a terrible thing. How sad."_

Kuro cut his gaze away from the upset boys and tuned out the sound of hurt betrayal. This wasn't something he could fix, even if he wanted to. The damage was already done.

_"Yes, there's no going back to they way things were. You're not a harmless little cat to them anymore! You never were, so maybe this was inevitable. 'Vampires can't survive without hurting others.' Sakuya was right about that, wasn't he?"_

"Shut up…"

"Haah?" Ryuusei started forward, but a glance at Kuro's face brought him to a sharp stop. He held himself tense, brave and terrified at the same time, and the truth in his fight-or-flight response drove home the sin of sloth's words.

Kuro wasn't annoyed. He was weary. Ages of weariness came down on him, dusty and smothering, and he ceased thinking about running away. He didn't care what they thought of him. It didn't matter if he was no longer a welcome classroom pet. Kuro could accept those consequences, no worse than anything else he'd been burdened with—but what he couldn't accept was Mahiru suffering because of him. Only that wasn't okay.

The sin of sloth kicked its feet in the air, tail flicking to and fro. _"You took your time deciding, as usual! Better hurry, though, there's a time limit after all."_

**Author's Note:**

> Writing canonverse fic for an in-progress series is going to be such a pain, lol. If new lore is revealed down the road that I can use I'll try to fit it in, but otherwise, this is practically AU after chapter 67.
> 
> Also, fair warning: the rating will go up to Explicit as soon as I can make the smut happen.


End file.
